Yesterday saw the debut of another local Spanish TV show that will discuss Cuban issues. Here in South Florida there are three local Spanish stations that are not network affiliated: MegaTV, AmericaTeVe, and GenTV. At 8pm, both MegaTV and AmericaTeve compete with local political talk shows, mainly discussing Cuba. Both shows regularly feature supporters of US policy towards Cuba, thus any opposition hardly gets noticed.
We can now add GenTV at 7pm with more support for US policy towards Cuba, and best of all the show is co-hosted by one of the fiercest supporters of the US embargo: Ninoska Perez-Castellon. The show is called Ultima Palabra (Last Word) and follows the blueprint and footsteps of the 8pm shows.
Perez-Castellon, who also has her own show on Radio Mambi, belongs to the Cuban Liberty Council (CLC), a group that opposes "any attempt by any group or political force, inside or outside Cuba, to impose an accord or form of government on the Cuban people that would represent the continuance of the totalitarian regime." This means no negotiation, compromise, or mediation concerning the conflict between Cuba and the US. According to a (December) 2004 interview with Perez-Castellon, the CLC recommended some of the restrictions that followed the (May) 2004 report by the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba. One of those restrictions was towards Cuban family travel, which has been denounced by many human rights organizations.
Yesterday on her talk radio show (Ninoska en Mambi - 3pm), Perez-Castellon received a call from a person who was arguing against the Cuban family travel restrictions. He argued that while he was a strong nationalist against Fidel Castro, his first priorities were to his family. Perez-Castellon countered with expressions of the suffering families of political prisoners. "What about them?," she asked.
Despite the strong opposition (64%) to the 2004 Cuban family travel restrictions, Perez-Castellon couldn't care less. As a result, Cuban families that are negatively affected by the restrictions are being held hostage to policy supporters like Perez-Castellon. She has ignored the condemnation of human rights organizations, and wants to force unwillingly Cubans to join her movement. Unfortunately, Ninoska Perez-Castellon has not realized that a forced policy on a population for a "free Cuba" has not been effective for decades, and very likely will never be.
3 comments:
You nay also add that the CLC was an offshoot of the CANF, when the staunchest hardliners (Ninoska and her husband included) diverted from teh more conciliatory route championed by Joe Garcia and Jorge Mas.
As far as I know, once CANF lost Jorge Mas Canosa (followed by big disagreements) there were several offshoots, some of which still exist to this day. One being CLC. There seems to be more "moderate" groups now, but I don't think they get attention from the White House as much as hard-line groups.
But, it makes perfect sense that CLC comes from CANF's hard-line. Also, its important to remember that a hard-line policy toward Cuba originates from other sectors instead of Miami, such as fierce anti-communists from the Cold War, which were supported by CANF through their Endowment for Cuban American Studies group.
I perfectly agree with Ninoska and her points of view. Previous attempts at having exiles and other Cuban-Americans return to Cuba has been a complete FAILURE and has not accomplished anything. Look at when the exiles returned in the late 1970's. What happened? Did the returning exiles lead to change in Cuba? NOPE! It just led to tourist dollars flowing the island and ultimately reaching the pockets of Castro and his goons, not the people of Cuba. It is the CASTRO REGIME that has led to the separation of families. Leaving Cuba to reunite with your family in Miami is a CRIME in Cuba and several people have been sent to the firing squad because of it. The firing squads, the dissapearances, the political prisoners are all a result of the Castro regime, not U.S Policy and that is what has led to the separation of families.
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